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Corona Devo 3221

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" Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. ( 12) They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.   ~Zechariah 7:11-14 No, Lord!  Don't let it be us!   It's NOT us, Father!   We love you with all our heart and soul and strength today! He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”  ~Luke 10:27 Although we are sinful and imperfect at times, we can truly declare that our heart's desire is FOR YOU, Father!   These Bible verses ( Zechariah 7:11-14 ) are so serious.   Serious consequences for serious offenses to Go...
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Corona Devo 3220

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How fresh is our faith today? How fake is our faith today?   Do we even know the difference?  Maybe we need to get-honest with ourselves...and with our Lord about the authenticity of our faith and our actions for Him.   What we do for the Lord... is it really for Him ?  Or have we grown so accustomed to the routine-of-faith, or even the idea  of it...that we have lost our true lustre for the Lord lately? On the surface, it might sound silly, but God knows our hearts .  And it wouldn't be the first time that His people had gotten used to "acting" in faith instead of actually experiencing/living/thriving in their faith and their love of the Lord. Have we gotten stale in our zeal for the Lord? If yes , then we probably have an inkling about it.   In the Biblical Book of Zechariah , God's people (the Israelites) had been holding yearly festivals  to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction (Zechariah 7:3...
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Corona Devo 3219

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I remember (years ago!) when I (and 1500 other twenty-something-year-olds) were a part of a thriving church ministry.   We had social-outreach events that encompassed everything from soccer and softball teams, to park potlucks, and (Christian) movies and concerts too.  I delighted to attend these (church!) outreaches, and to make new friends along the way. When I welcomed church-goers as a greeter at the door each week, I  was me  (smiley and kind)  to the young men and women that walked in, and I delighted to serve the Lord in this way. But somewhere in the smiles and get-togethers, I caught the wrong thing a couple times. One guy at church mistook my kindness for interest, and he began to call and text me often, and he showed up wherever I was.  One girl was so grateful for our new ministry, and she went to every thing...but so did I!  (I'm not sure if she had been blessed with many friendships prior to our group at church).  But ...
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Corona Devo 3218

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Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, 'guess I'll go eat some worms.... If this (disgusting) declaration brings a children's song to mind, then you and I are now singing the same one.   And if the song is new to you, I have a feeling that the sentiments are not.  We all have worm-eating days and seasons when (it seems as if) nobody likes us and everybody hates us. And believe it or not, David has a Psalm for that: 142. ~~~ The writings of King David are so very profound.  And so very simple.   How could he (David): a shepherd, a king, a Jewish man and a warrior feel (and so aptly express) the exact emotions that we feel ?   How could someone with whom we have (seemingly)  so little in common  capture our (sometimes) cries to the Lord, and plagiarize our (periodic) exact pleas to the Lord? When we are low, and alone... this  is how it feels...and how it goes, but how did David  know that?  And how did God  know that? I...
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Corona Devo 3217

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We love  the Lord.  And He calls us to love others...and we want to.   As a son or daughter of God, He imparts His Holy Spirit into us and we want to help, to serve, to lead, and to love in His Name.  God whispers efforts, initiatives, people...and we go .  And we do .  And these become our good deeds  in His Name.   And...we are (Biblically) supposed to be led, and to do these things.  Simply put, and Biblically put--- f aith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.   What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ( 15)  If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ( 16)  and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ( 17)  Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead .  ~James 2:14:-17  ...
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